Chinese Travel Writers Visit Northern Ireland

A group of leading travel writers from the Pearl River Delta region in southern China visited Northern Ireland last week, as guests of Tourism Ireland, Tourism NI and Fáilte Ireland

They flew to Dublin on the new Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong – the first ever direct flight from the Asia-Pacific region to Ireland, which was launched last month.

Representing a range of print and online publications, the journalists have a combined audience of over 7.3 million readers. The aim of their visit is to highlight the new flight and ease of access from southern China to the island of Ireland to their readers, as well as some of the many things to see and do here on a holiday.

Their busy programme included visits to the Marble Arch Caves Global Geopark, Lough Erne Resort, Titanic Belfast, St George’s Market, Queen’s University and the Ulster Museum. They also enjoyed Kildare Village, the Guinness Storehouse, the Cliffs of Moher and a walking tour of Galway city.

James Kenny, Tourism Ireland’s Manager China, said: “Tourism Ireland was delighted to invite these influential travel writers from southern China to visit the island of Ireland, to experience for themselves some of the many great things to see and do here. Visits like this are an invaluable part of our overall promotional programme, helping to get positive exposure for Northern Ireland and the island of Ireland through the media in China.”

James Kenny continued: “China is the largest outbound travel market in the world and one that Tourism Ireland is committed to growing over the coming years. In 2017, we welcomed an estimated 70,000 Chinese visitors to the island of Ireland; the introduction of the new direct flight from Hong Kong is a major game-changer and offers a real opportunity for us to build on this number.

“We look forward to working with Cathay Pacific, to maximise the promotion of, and drive demand for, this new service. We are confident that we are in a strong position to grow this emerging travel market in 2018 and over the coming years.”

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